Tom McClintock on Civil Rights

2004 former Republican Challenger CA Governor

Prop 54 makes the government stop classifying people by race

I'm the only candidate on this platform who supports Proposition 54, which simply says that our government has got to stop classifying us by race. It doesn't matter what race you are. The government should treat everyone exactly the same.
This nation's best is when we are all one race, an American race. And this business of government classifying us according to different ethnic groups, different racial categories, that is abhorrent to the whole concept of one great American people.

Source: Recall Debate, Cal. State Univ. at Sacramento
Sep 24, 2003

Giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants is unfair

This nation has the most generous immigration policies of any nation in the world. Illegal immigration undermines that process of legal immigration that's the strength of our nation. There are millions of people who are willing to abide
by our immigration laws to come to this nation, become Americans and see their children grow up and prosper as Americans. Illegal immigration is the process of cutting in line in front of them.
And I don't believe that we should be rewarding such behavior. Illegal immigration is costing this state $4 billion in direct costs out of our state treasury by the most conservative estimates available.
We have got to assure that our immigration laws are enforced. I led the opposition to the measure on giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, because it undermines the enforcement of our immigration laws.

Source: Recall Debate, Cal. State Univ. at Sacramento
Sep 24, 2003

Strong supporter of Prop 54: Govt should be color-blind

Q: Do you support Proposition 54, which prohibits local governments from collecting race related data?

McCLINTOCK: I strongly support proposition 54. I believe our government should be color-blind. I do not believe that a person's skin color should determine how their government treats them.

Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek
Sep 3, 2003

No legal rights for same-sex couples

Q: Do you support the bill to give same-sex couples most of the same legal benefits as married couples?

McCLINTOCK: I would veto it. I do not care what people do in the privacy of their own homes. But I draw the line when they ask the government to approve or disapprove it of it.

Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek
Sep 3, 2003

Pledge of Allegiance court case is central to America

Words matter. Ideas matter. And symbols matter. The public furor over the Pledge of Allegiance must not be devalued as a mere defense of harmless deistic references and quaint old customs. The principle at stake is central to the very foundation of
America and the very survival of its freedoms. If the source of our fundamental rights is not God, then the source becomes man-or more precisely, a government of men. And rights that can be extended by government may also be withdrawn by government.

Hispanic children are forced into bilingual education

California children with Hispanic surnames today are forced into bilingual programs, often against the parents' wishes, to be instructed in the child's "native" language.
Bureaucrats have every reason to ignore parental pleas: bilingual teachers are paid as much as $5,000 more than their counterparts in a multi-billion dollar, multi-cultural scam.